Clive Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is a businessman from Queensland, Australia, most widely known as owner of Mineralogy and for his investments in other natural resource companies.[5] As of January 2012, his net worth was estimated by Forbes magazine to be US$795 million.[6]

Palmer had a successful early career in real estate, mostly on the Gold Coast.

MINING billionaire Clive Palmer has been on a whirlwind tour of the Far North inspecting high-end properties to buy, including the Sea Temple Golf and Country Club at Port Douglas.

He told The Weekend Post he had viewed 20 properties by helicopter between Townsville and Cairns.

Mr Palmer said there were no bargains to be snapped up and Townsville looked more promising than Cairns.

"Townsville is a much better proposition at the moment. The airport's close to town and you can get out to the Reef easily," he said. Mr Palmer and three associates inspected the Sea Temple course from the air before landing on the property on Thursday.

Earlier this year Mr Palmer bought two golf courses on the Gold Coast at Robina for $7 million.

Port Douglas and Daintree Tourism executive officer Doug Ryan said rumours were that Mr Palmer had been at the Sea Temple golf course.

Real estate agent Tony McGrath said all the town was talking about the visit.

"My mail is that he was flying around in a helicopter and Sea Temple is the property people have been talking about," he said.

CBRE Hotels Queensland director Wayne Bunz said the golf course and country club, plus a housing estate development, was for sale with expressions of interest closing on November 14.

A Sea Temple spokeswoman said there would be no comment on Mr Palmer's visit.

The property has been on the market by the Juniper Development Group for a year.

In 2008, Palmer bought Waratah Coal.[9] He took over Queensland Nickel in 2009. The following year, the company increased production by 30%, prompting him to give $10 million worth of Christmas bonuses to staff including 55 Mercedes-Benz B-Class cars and overseas holidays.[10]

Gold Coast United

Palmer purchased the Gold Coast United football club in 2008 to improve his profile in China.[11] In October 2009, he made a decision to cap attendances of Gold Coast United home games at Skilled Park stadium to 5,000,[12] in a bid to save money.[12] After widespread backlash and only 2616 fans attending the next home game, the idea was scrapped after the intervention of Football Federation Australia.[12]

On 29 February 2012, Ben Buckley and Frank Lowy announced that his license for Gold Coast United FC was to be revoked for constant breaches of FFA rules and regulations and sought to pay out the remaining contracts of the players for the remaining month of the season.[13] Lowy has stated that he acted in order to protect the integrity of the sport.[14] However, Palmer stipulated that he would contest the decisions through legal action and claimed Lowy was a dictator.[14] Despite a ruling ordering the removal of "Freedom of Speech" logos on their shirts, Palmer has indicated they will remain.[15] On 2 March 2012, Palmer lost his Supreme Court bid against Gold Coast United's expulsion from the A-League.[16]

In November 2012, Palmer announced, in light of the fact that several Government ministers were "conspiring to have (him) gaoled", that he had resigned from the LNP, and was considering starting a new "United Australia Party", for which his father had been a member of and his nephew had the trademark right to. He joked that although he would enjoy being a politician, he was certainly "too fat to be premier".

Tourism

Palmer owns luxury resorts at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast and Port Douglas Queensland and is building a replica of the Titanic.[19] In April 2012, he announced that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with CSC Jinling Shipyard to construct a replica of RMS Titanic, the Titanic II.[19] The ship is set to be completed in 2016. Palmer hopes to re-create the Titanic as closely as possible with its familiar outside looks and also on the inside. The ship will be built in China and will set sail in late 2016.[20]

Other activities

In June 2002, Palmer was appointed Adjunct Professor of Business at Deakin University's Faculty of Business and Law, a role he held until 2006. During that time, he delivered a series of lectures as part of Deakin's MBA Residential Programs.[21]

In December 2012, Palmer was appointed secretary general of the World Leadership Alliance. A democracy promoting council that includes former US president Bill Clinton, Myanmar's opposition leader Aun San Suu Kyi. Palmer was also named president of the alliance's business chapter, the World Economic Council. [22]

Speaking on 20 March 2012, Clive Palmer accused Greenpeace of being funded by the CIA to bring down Australia's coal mining sector.[26] His claims were dismissed by Greenpeace senior campaigner John Hepburn as "ludicrous", saying that Greenpeace would not accept money from any government, corporation or secret service.[27] Clive Palmer also said:

You only have to go back and read the Church Report in the 1970s and to read the reports to the US Congress which sets up the Rockefeller Foundation as a conduit of CIA funding, you only have to look at their secret budget which was passed by Congress last year, bigger than our whole national economy, which the CIA's got to ensure that. You only have to read the reports to US Congress when the CIA reported to the president that their role was to ensure the US competitive advantage and economic advantages. That's how you know it's funded by the CIA.[26]

His claims were furthermore rejected by the CIA itself,[28] and sparked calls from Labor and Greens party leaders for the Opposition leader Tony Abbott (closely involved with Clive Palmer) to distance himself from the claims.[27]

Later days found Clive Palmer's CIA theory rejected by LNP leader Campbell Newman, saying "It's got nothing to do with myself and this campaign, I can tell you that."[29]

Private life

Clive Palmer was born in Victoria and lived in Perry Street, Williamstown, where his father had a private movie theatre and used to invite his neighbours to watch the latest movies.[5] He now lives on the sovereign islands on the Gold Coast.

Palmer was thought to have suffered a heart attack while watching the Brisbane Roar–Gold Coast United game on 11 October 2009 and was rushed to hospital. However, doctors dismissed it as merely a heart palpitation incident.[30] In 2012, it was revealed that Palmer had suffered from sleep apnoea.[31]